**ST JOHN’S MUXTON PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2025** 

_The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

## **INTRODUCTION** 

This report is intended to explain how St John’s operates, our objectives and activities, our achievement and performance and our financial position.  We hope that you find the information helpful. 

## **1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS** 

St John’s Church, Muxton 

Correspondence address:  Lesley Trotman, Church Office, St John’s Church, Saltwells Drive, Muxton TF2 8RJ. Website www.stjohnsmuxton.org.uk Church Office: 01952 670033 Email: admin@stjohnsmuxton.org.uk 

St John’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) had the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Revd Matthew Lefroy (until end of September 2025) in promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical matters within the ecclesiastical parish of Muxton.  The PCC is responsible for the running and maintaining of the church building, namely, St John’s Church and Community Centre, Saltwells Drive, Muxton. 

required by law.  It has the power to transact the business of PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the Council.  It is comprised of the vicar, vice chair, wardens, secretary and treasurer. 

We also have working parties which are decided in consultation with the vicar:  Working parties include the Building Management Team, Evangelism, World Church & Justice, Pastoral, Personnel and Safeguarding. 

## **SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT** 

We take seriously the safeguarding of children young adults and adults at risk in our care. The PCCs will take all reasonable care to ensure the safety of the children, young people and vulnerable adults of St John’s & St Michael’s Churches for whom they bear responsibility. 

We recognise that children by virtue of legal status and dependency on adults for their emotional and physical needs will always be vulnerable and at a disadvantage.  We also understand that illness, disability, race, mental health and other issues can put adults in a position of vulnerability. We commit to considering these things in our activities – undertaking supervision of staff working with them and risk assessing activities and groups as a check and balance in our work. 

**Risk Management** – is done by Building Management. 

## **3. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** 

## **OUR VISION** 

Members of the PCC are either ex-officio (Clergy, Churchwardens and Deanery Synod Representatives), elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting or co-opted in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. At the 2025 Annual Parochial Church Meeting held in April those listed below were appointed to serve as members of the PCC. 

_**Incumbent** :_ Matthew Lefroy _(until end of September 2025)_ 

_**Curate** :_ Vacancy _**Ordained Local Minister** :_ Jane Evans 

_**Churchwardens** :_ Andrew Hambler and Lesley Trotman _**Representatives on the Deanery Synod** :_ Kerry Hoult _**Elected Members:**_ Jon Rawson, Nigel West, Susan Grant, Jan Stackhouse, Gill Steinert, Dan West, Simon Hartridge (Treasurer) 

## **WE WANT TO BE PASSIONATE FOR GOD BY…** 

## **Visibly developing trust in Jesus** 

We will offer explicit opportunities for people to reflect regularly on their journey of faith and then challenge and support them to progress to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ _._ 

## **Readily taking risks** 

We will always be ready to share our faith with others and to be in those situations where the Holy Spirit would want us to be. 

**Banker** :  CAF Bank **Auditor** : Lynne Clifford at Clifford & Co 

## **2. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** 

**PCC Constitution:** The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England.  The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure.  The PCC is registered with the Charity Commission, number 1162098. **PCC Members:** PCC members are elected by the congregation.  We have nine elected PCC posts.  Three become vacant each year.  On election the post lasts for three years.  Those elected to deanery synod are also eligible to sit on PCC as are wardens and clergy. 

**Induction and training of PCC members:** At the first PCC meeting the PCC shares Holy Communion and all members are given a summary of how the PCCs work and there is an opportunity for questions.  PCC members are invited to attend any relevant diocesan training. 

**Subcommittees and working parties:** The PCC has a subcommittee to help with the day to day running of St John’s which is the Standing Committee.  This is the only committee 

## **Generously serving our community** 

We will actively engage with our local community to provide Christian support where needed and help to develop community spirit. 

## **Unashamedly praying** 

We will live lives that demonstrate the importance we place on praying alone and together and we will be ready to pray for and with people who are and who are not part of our church. 

## **4. ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE** 

During the year, five scheduled meetings of the PCC were held, the January meeting did not take place, plus additional meetings concerning the interregnum. 

The main items that the PCC have looked at during the year have been:- update of polices, Various Finances – 

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Fees/Wages/Budget/Approval of financial accounts/Parish share, Matthew’s retirement & Interregnum, Safeguarding, Christians Against Povery. 

ENERGISED BY FAITH AND GOD-INSPIRED AND INSPIRING WORSHIP 

We continued to offer our services online, live streaming via YouTube. 

**Sermon series** included Life in the Spirit, Daniel – HopeInspired Faithfulness, John’s Gospel and I Believe. 

**THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER** is held at St Michael’s every Thursday at 8am for half an hour.  During this time, we pray for the work and activities of both churches, including our time in vacancy.  On the last Thursday of the month, after prayer time, we enjoy breakfast and fellowship.  Folk are invited to come whenever they are free, for as little or as long as they are able. Further information from the church office 670033. 

## **OCCASIONAL OFFICES** 

**Baptisms/Thanksgivings:** Our church offers Baptism and Thanksgiving services with 4 Baptisms taking place during the year and no Thanksgivings. 

**Weddings:** No weddings took place at St John’s in 2025. **Funerals:** Our pre-funeral pack with information on hymns, readings and tributes etc is available if required and we are grateful to the bereavement team who continue to support those who have recently had a relative pass away.  This as with all occasional office ministries occurs across the benefice. 2 Funeral services were held in our church during 2025 and 3 took place at Telford Crematorium.  45 attended the joint annual **Memorial Service** held at St Michael’s in March. 

## **EVANGELISM** 

## **Aims and objectives of the evangelism Team:** 

- To be visionary; seeking God’s vision for outreach/evangelism in order to share the gospel in differing ways 

- Facilitating events and initiatives that will contribute to sharing the Christian faith with others 

The **EVANGELISM subgroup** is made up a group of people who meet to discern what God wants to do through St John’s in order to outreach and share the Gospel. In addition to arranging events, we take time to pray and reflect on where we should be going next. During the year we have met on 6 occasions for subgroup oversight, reflection and planning and additional meetings to deliver Mission 25, Who Cares?’ 

## **Our activities during 2025 include:** 

- ➢ Much of the work of the team for this period concentrated on delivering a **week of Mission, ‘Who Cares?’,** during the Easter period. Events were planned for every day and covered all age groups for children, men and women. The whole church engaged with the project and there was a real sense of God at work during the whole event and as a result we have seen growth. 

- ➢ We have produced and delivered 3 editions of our local newspaper The **Word around Muxton** .This is a low-level evangelism initiative delivered to every household in Muxton. Our aim is to provide local 

interest and information, whilst sharing Good News. We welcome any contribution for and about the people of Muxton. 

- ➢ We continued to deliver 3 **healing services** throughout the year. Whilst numbers of those attending vary it is always felt that those who attend benefit. It would be good to see our church family extend invites to friends and families as there is no doubt that there is always a need. 

- ➢ Our **Community Choir** which attracts both church family members and those from our local community continues to be an integral part of our evangelism. It offers crucial support and friendship to members. During the year they put on several productions. The Easter and Christmas productions always carry the gospel message and as a result we have seen people join the congregation. 

- ➢ **A Novel Idea,** our book club **,** meets once a month. There is a good mix of church family and those from the community and further afield. This is very much appreciated by those who come along and even when we don’t like the book we read, we have great fun discussing why this is the case! 

- ➢ During our week of mission, we trialled our first session of **Count Me In,** a service for adults with learning difficulties. Due to the success this is now a regular bi-monthly service which is appreciated and enjoyed by a growing number of adults with learning difficulties. 

- ➢ In September we held our popular **Ladies Day** in support of Macmillan Trust which was again a great success with about 50 people attending. 

- ➢ In May we ran our in-house evangelism series **SoulSpeak.** This series was well attended with people from both church and non church backgrounds, many requesting more at the end! 

- ➢ **Easter services** were the centre of our Mission Week 25. **Palm Sunday** was enhanced by the arrival of Alfie the donkey.  Maundy Thursday’s **A Supper Like No Other** where we produced drama and music to convey the message was a great success attracting over 80 people. Similarly, numbers attending the **Good Friday enactment & reflection** increased. **Easter Sunday** was a real day of celebration with a packed-out church. 

- ➢ **Christmas** again offered opportunities to engage with the community starting with the **Christmas fayre** at the end of November, followed by **Carol Singing** around the streets, **Carols & Candles** where over 100 people attended, a **Christingle/Crib Service** and a shared **Christmas day lunch** . All of these events attracted people from the community and wider who do not usually come to church, along with our church family. 

## **Regular activities that have a focus on outreach include:** 

- ➢ Tots 

- ➢ Community Choir 

- ➢ Join Us 

- ➢ Lunch Club 

- ➢ Forget me not films 

- ➢ Youth initiatives 

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- ➢ Children’s Activity Days 

- ➢ Healing Services 

- ➢ Book Club 

- ➢ Baptism/wedding visits/contacts 

- ➢ Bereavement visits/contacts 

- ➢ Truth To Tell 

All of these initiatives, new and regular, are crucial to our outreach and provide a valuable resource for our community and **through them we can see new growth emerging** . Please pray for these groups and especially for their leaders as they discern what God wants for each of them and us all in sharing the gospel. 

## **Plans for the coming year** 

- To alternate **SoulSpeak & Alpha** annually 

- **Easter** 

- **Christmas** 

- Continue the development of ‘ **The Word around Muxton’** 

- **Older young people and young adults** : As we are currently attracting more older YP and young adults we will spend time discerning what God may want us to do to develop this ministry to disciple congregation members and offer an outreach opportunity. 

Please continue to support this area of our ministry and anyone who feels they would like **to join the Evangelism team** please contact Jan Stackhouse 01952 604775 or janicestackhouse@btinternet.com 

organisers for their commitment and hard work throughout the year. 

**Truth to Tell** meets monthly at St John’s, usually the last Thursday of the month to enjoy listening to a speaker, whose talk always contains a reference to their chosen bible verse. We then have a chance to reflect on the ‘Thought for the day’ in their talk, and chat about how its relevant to all of us. We have a small band of volunteers, without whom the group would not exist, who supply us with the usual endless supply of tea coffee and cake! 

**Tots** A happy selection of Tots and their carers meet every Tuesday in term time from 10am to 11.30. We welcome children aged up to the age of 4 with their parent/carer. The children enjoy free play, whilst adults enjoy time to chat. There’s always a Bible based story, with a linked craft activity. We have introduced a music bag; children take turns to dip in and pick out a toy and then we sing the song it represents. During better weather we play outside and have end of term parties/trips. There have been several friendship groups formed in the group, and the support between parents and carers is obvious. The group is very fortunate to have a strong group of volunteers, without whom none of this would be possible. We are self-funded, charging £3.00 per session, and surplus funds are donated back to St Johns. The children all enjoy fresh fruit, a drink and biscuits at the end of the session, hot drinks and biscuits are available for adults too. All our toys are donated, for which we are grateful, and we change them around regularly. 

## **CAP (Christians against Poverty) DEBT CENTRE** 

## **COMMUNITY** 

Join Us 4 a Cuppa! in 2025 celebrated 10 years of community outreach with a special afternoon tea.  We also supported ‘Who Cares?` our mission week over Easter, hosting the Maundy Supper and providing jacket potato’s for the Quiz Night.  Other charities, including Christian Aid, Tickled Pink and CAP continue to be supported through our themed coffee mornings.  These gatherings welcome people from Muxton and surrounding areas, offering a warm and friendly space within our church for friends – old and new - to join together. Thanks to all the team who provide the warm welcome and lovely refreshments’. **Forget Me Not Films** continued to meet once a month, on the third Thursday morning, to enjoy a time of fun, fellowship, food, and films! The film is always a golden oldie and sometimes—though not always—a musical. The screening starts at 10am, with people arriving from 9.45am. We always pause halfway through the film for a break and the chance to enjoy chatting together. FMN held its last meeting at St John’s in September and then continued in its new home at St Michael’s. Meetings are now held on the second Wednesday of each month at 1.30pm within The Coffee Lounge. If you enjoy good films, good company, and plenty of refreshments, please consider coming along—everyone is most welcome. **Lunch Club** has enjoyed another wonderful year. Our dedicated team works hard each month to provide a lovely two-course meal for an average of 45–50 people, and often more. We would like to thank all Lunch Club members for their continued support, and our wonderful helpers and 

‘There’s so many people with mental health issues these days.’ A sentence we hear so often on the media. We might know someone whose mental health is not good and be sympathetic or we might be sceptical about the apparent over-diagnosis. Whichever way you feel, here in our Telford CAP debt centre, we now find most of our clients are, quite understandably worried, anxious and even depressed because of their financial situation. We are also finding many of our clients have serious mental ill-health and this is often one of the causes that they have fallen into debt. As Christians we go into people’s homes and help them to sort through and sort out their debt issues. We also ask if they would like prayer (99% say ‘yes’) and if they want to know more about Jesus, we support them in that spiritual journey.  Last December marked 10 years since our opening. The leaders and the congregation here in St John’s were instrumental in getting the debt centre open and helping us to stay open. Your prayer and financial support have been amazing. A big thankyou. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we bring Jesus into our client’s lives.   So what happened in 2025? 

- The centre saw more than 28 new clients in 2025. 17 clients went debt free and a number started a debt management plan. By December 2025, since we opened in 2015, 144 people have become debt free, that equates to £1,419,641.41 of debt repaid or written off. Praise God for each person that has experienced freedom from the bondage of debt. 

- Generous members of St John’s joined other churches in providing more than 50 Christmas hampers to our clients. 

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   - Four churches continue to partner together to run the debt centre (St John’s, All Saints, Central Telford and Dawley Baptist). Following Matthew’s retirement, we are without a representative from St John’s on the Partnership team. It’s really vital that St John’s “has a voice” as important decisions are made. 

   - Last autumn, we sent a proposal to the Charity Commissioners so we could be an independent charity. We are still awaiting their response. (Whoever becomes a representative from St John’s does not need to become a Trustee.) 

   - Ann Trehern continues as our centre manager and is also our safeguarding officer. 

   - Hugh Burton continues as a volunteer debt coach. 

   - Lizzie Brown has now moved to pastures new and we recently appointed a new salaried debt coach, Vanessa Holt who starts her training in February. 

   - Several fundraising events were held during the year and it was great to see a number of congregation members from both churches at the fantastic music night, garden party and lasagne and quiz night. 

- We always need new volunteers and financial support. Contact Ann Trehern on 07445 185671 if you would like more information.  We also need your prayer support for the Centre as a whole, for our clients and for staff and volunteers is very much appreciated. If you would like to join us in our monthly prayer meetings, please contact Ann Trehern at anntrehern@capuk.org 

- A full annual report is available, on request, from Ann. 

**Street Pastors** are trained Christian volunteers from local churches supporting the nighttime economy in their local communities and are made up of men and women going out in the evenings to offer support by ‘caring, listening and helping’. The Telford Street Pastors patrolled throughout 2025 on Saturday evenings, usually from 8.30pm through to 2.30am the following morning, between Telford Centre, Oakengates, Wellington and Newport depending upon where the need was greatest. Since returning after Covid, we had seen a steady reduction in the number of street pastors for a variety of reasons, and so we were especially pleased that our recruitment campaign at the start of the year attracted a number of Christians from across Telford who trained to become new street pastors. Finally in October nine newly trained street pastors were commissioned in a well-attended service at Hadley Elim, and this has boosted each of our three teams. In addition, we have attracted a small number of new prayer pastors which has been a real blessing. St John’s and St Michael’s have provided active support to this ministry for a number of years and following the latest training Sam Himsworth has joined Ricky, Melissa and Simon from our church in currently supporting this mission. Finally, as Matthew has retired, he has stepped away after a number of years of faithful service on the management committee. The team’s role is to help and support those people who are out in the evenings, helping them get home safely, caring for them when necessary or simply providing a listening ear when they need someone to talk to. An increasingly prominent part of our nights out is to provide support to those that are homeless, providing a hot drink, biscuits, woolly hats and sleeping bags, as well as signposting them to the homeless 

support provisions in the town. A special mention goes to the members of “Muxton Knit and Natter” who have continued to provide a stock of both bought and knitted hats, gloves and socks to distribute to the homeless, and these are always well received by those in need. During 2025 we have introduced weekly reporting to the Housing Solution Services Team at Telford and Wrekin Council on any homeless we encounter, for them to monitor and provide tailored support where appropriate.  The team’s presence continues to be highly valued by those out in the evenings, as well as by our partners: the local authority, police, ambulance and venue door staff. The Street Pastors are ably supported by a dedicated team of prayer pastors who pray for the team and any issues they face whilst they are out.  These Prayer Pastors are an incredibly important part of our team and mission. Unfortunately, Geoff and Sue Lott were unable to continue in this role but still often provide words of encouragement on our What’s App Group which are gratefully received – thank you. In addition to normal patrols, for special events at Harper Adams, we support the University in helping their security staff with helping the students safely onto transport from Newport town centre, and this again is truly appreciated and highly valued by the college. Following recruitment in 2025, the next recruitment drive has been postponed until later this year, but please speak to Simon Trotman should you want to find out more about this challenging but very rewarding ministry as we work to show Jesus’ love for our community on the streets. Indeed, the invitation remains open to anyone interested to join us for an evening as an observer, and experience a night out with the street pastors, seeing first-hand what we do and finding out whether this may be for you. 

**WEBSITE/SOCIAL MEDIA** Our website is managed by UK Churches and is smartphone and tablet friendly.  The St John’s and St Michael’s parts of the site are more integrated than on our previous website.  Please contact Dan with any feedback. Our Facebook accounts are looked after by Lisa, another way in which we communicate with the local community. 

**WORLD CHURCH & JUSTICE GROUP** includes representatives from both churches with the majority of activities being jointly organised and held in both churches. The joint membership comprises of five members from St Michael’s and one from St John’s. The group met on three occasions. An additional member from SJM would be very welcome. 

## **Mission of the Year** 

A representative from Mission Africa spoke eloquently at both services in August highlighting the good work they do in Theological Education and Health Care provision in Nigeria and other West African countries. 

## **Fairtrade** 

The theme of Brew it Fair was used to help the congregation think of where our tea is sourced. Tea bags were distributed to the congregation at the end of the services during Fairtrade Fortnight in September 2025. 

## **The Tearfund Big Quiz Night** 

Unfortunately, with other activities going on in the later part of the year it was not possible to host the quiz in 2025 

## **World Prayer Topics in Weekly Notices** 

These continue to be added intermittently throughout the year aimed to assist our congregations to focus their private 

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prayers on current world crises including emergencies and disasters. 

## **Mission Giving** 

|12% of St John’s income is donated to support mission|
|---|
|projects.  5% at home, 5% overseas, 1% to Mission of the Year|
|with the remainder split between special charities. Donations|
|in 2025 includes:|
|Tearfund<br>£2317|
|CPAS<br>£2317|
|Nepal Leprosy Trust<br>£1545|
|Telford CAP Debt Centre<br>£1665|
|Mission of the Year – Mission Africa           £565|
|Miscellaneous Giving         £250 (divided between Street|
|Pastors, IJM, Resource and People International)|
|The St John’s WCJ group member for 2025 was Di.|



2025 the Safeguarding Officer was Jan Stackhouse. The Deputy Safeguarding Officer was Gill Steinert.  A subcommittee made up of members from St John’s and St Michael’s, along with the PCC, review the detail and practice of the policies for the Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.   Everyone involved in ministry with Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults is required to undertake training relevant to their position.   DBS clearance is required for many of these roles. DBS requirements and training records for all staff, both paid and voluntary, are reviewed and lapses reported to the PCC. In addition, St John’s and St Michael’s provide administrative support for Telford CAP workforce. In addition to the above polices we also have a Lone Workers Policy and Role Descriptors for all areas of church life For the period January- December 2025 

Re St John’s 

## **YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN’S MINISTRY** 

## _Children’s groups comprise of:_ 

**LIGHT** _Learning in God’s House Together_ (Currently for children up to and including Key Stage 1) Our Crèche restarted in 2025 following a renewed push for leaders and helpers. We were delighted to welcome several new volunteers — a real answer to prayer. We now offer a weekly session, with an average attendance of 4–6 children following a pre-decided theme from Energize. 

**SAS** (Currently for children in Key stage 2) – with regular leaders and helpers we have continued to meet every week, including most school holidays.  Leaders/helpers regularly met together to pray for the children and share ideas.  A syllabus from Energize is used, which means that each lesson can build on the teaching from the previous one and then their work is displayed on the notice board. The Summer Activity Days (for Rec. to Yr 6 children) celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2025 with the theme _“The G.O.A.Ts – Greatest of All Time.”_ It was a chance to look back over the past two decades and revisit some much-loved favourites. 

We welcomed 80 children for three fun-filled days of singing, dancing, Bible stories and sporting activities — an energetic, joyfully chaotic event enjoyed by all. _Young People’s groups:_ 

**Spark** runs on Sunday mornings during the service, led by Andrew and Simon. To comply with safeguarding, many members of the congregation help. Many thanks to everyone who has volunteered, without them Spark couldn't run. On average, we have around 7 young people each week, including some new young people who were not previously connected with St John's, which is very encouraging. 

**sub:Zero and sub:Extra weekly youth café** Sadly, the youth groups sub:Zero and sub:Extra, did not restart in 2025 due to low numbers and a reduced number of helpers and leaders. However, we remain hopeful that something similar can be reintroduced in the future. 

**Safeguarding** All children, young people’s and vulnerable adults’ work through St Michael’s and St John’s churches is undertaken within agreed safeguarding policy statements together with an e-safety policy ratified by PCC. This has been devised along guidelines recommended by the Lichfield Diocese.  The policy statements, ratified by the PCC, are displayed in the church porch and on the church website. In 

- ➢ There were no incidents that required a referral to Social Care 

- ➢ There were 6 Adult Cause for Concern reports filed in respect of 5 people– which were examined and satisfactorily dealt with using St John's and St Michael's Safeguarding procedures, liaising with the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer on one account 

Reports such as these are recorded in case further concerns arise that may require intervention from statutory agencies **.** 

## **WELCOME AND CONNECTIONS TEAM** 

We are passionate about caring for every member of St John’s. As life changes, we have said goodbye to some members, but we have also been delighted to welcome many new faces this year. There continue to be lots of opportunities for us to connect with one another. 

The Community Choir, led by Ellie, Scarlett and Wayne, continues to thrive. It is well supported, bringing together members from our church and the wider local community. Lunch Club and Join Us provide a warm welcome and the chance to share a meal, creating space for friendships to grow. We are truly grateful for the many opportunities we have to share the love of Jesus with others. 

St John’s congregation continues to grow, as does the Music Group. The passion of each member as they lead us in worship is inspiring. Our young people’s groups also continue to offer a wide range of opportunities to explore and learn about Jesus. A heartfelt thank you goes to our group leaders and the many volunteers who give their time so generously to support our young people — our hope for the future. We are planning an event for young adults “Chill and Connect”, with the hope of developing more opportunities for this group in the coming year. 

**The Pastoral group** consists of Matthew Lefroy (until end of Sept 2025) (Vicar), Julie (Pastoral coordinator), Cath, Jane, Sam (Sam’s mentor Simon T). As a team we meet 3 times a year, February, July and October. During the meetings we look at the pastoral list of members which is held by the church.  At each meeting they look closely and identify those in our congregation that may need extra pastoral support.  Contact is made by phone calls; text messages and the Pastoral Coordinator send many many cards and flowers throughout 

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the year and arranges visiting involving 2 members of the team for safeguarding reasons. Training is updated annually. Our mtg on 31st October we were pleased to announce Sam was joining us, being the link to the many young adults between age of 18/30 yrs, with Simon T acting as his mentor for 12 months.  Plans are in place for early 2026 to put on some events for this age range. 

**Small mid-week groups** continue to be essential to the life of St John’s and St Michael’s and those that attend find them integral to their daily life offering the opportunity to pray and grow in faith together.  During this current year we have 7 in Muxton and 2 in Lilleshall. 5 of the groups meet during the day and 4 in the evening; membership to the groups is not dependant on which church people attend and there is a healthy and valuable cross over between the 2 churches and the groups they attend. At the end of the year the number of people attending all groups rose from 100 to 108, some people attend more than one group. 

Each group has its own unique style, but all are soundly based in sharing our love of Jesus, learning and deepening our faith and praying for each other’s needs. We use material best suited to our groups and on occasions will follow a common theme or material that has been suggested to meet the needs of the whole church family. 

Most groups primarily meet physically, zoom is sometimes used as a valuable option when either people have been unwell, or the weather has been inclement. Group Leaders have met together on 3 occasions during the year to offer each other support, pray, and share ideas and material. We often look at a reflection and apply learning to leadership. In addition, we seek to identify new members of the congregation who may like to join a group. Please pray for these groups and especially the leaders who work hard preparing, leading, encouraging and supporting their members. 

If you would like to join a mid-week small group please contact either Jan Stackhouse or Les Trotman for more information. 

## **SIDESPERSONS** 

This is the 2025 Sidespersons list.   The sidespeople arrive at church for 10.20am to greet our congregation with a smile and a hello and to hand out service sheets/notices.  Thank you to all who help.  Please speak to Lesley if you feel this is a role 

you would like to do. 

|ou would like to do.||
|---|---|
|Dom & Martie|Dave & Sue|
|Stan & Susan|Alasdair|
|Cath|Colin & Judith|
|Christine K|John & Wendy|
|John & Moira|Gio,Gad,GiGi,Gwen|
|Helen|David & Susan|
|Steve & Heather|Chris L|
|Gillian|Jeanette|



## **CHURCH ATTENDANCE, ELECTORAL ROLL FIGURES AND OTHER STATISTICS** 

**Electoral Roll:** At the 2025 revision the number of names on the roll was 71. After preparation of the Roll prior to today the total stands at 72.  We have 41 women and 31 men on the 

Electoral Roll of which 19 are non-resident, 4 live in Lilleshall parish which leaves 49 people live in the parish of Muxton. **General Attendance:** After an unsettled few years, our average attendance has returned to pre-COVID levels. We continue to offer live streaming of our 11am service via YouTube. During 2025, our average in-person attendance was 71 adults, representing an increase of 12 compared with the previous year. 

|revious year.||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**STATISTICS**|**2026**|**2025**|**2024**|**2023**|**2022**|**2021**|**2020**|
|**Average Adult**<br>**Attendance:**||71|59|57|54|Covid|Covid|
|**Average Child**<br>**Attendance:**||9|8|10|10|||
|**Adult + child**<br>**attendance**||80|67|67|64|||
|**Easter Day**<br>**Communicants:**||124|71|76|78|9||
|**Christmas**<br>**Eve/Day**<br>**Communicants:**||58|55|52|107|40|76|
|**Electoral Roll**|72|71|84|88|92|96|95|
|**Baptisms (aged**<br>**0-17years): **||4|8|0|1|1|0|
|**Baptisms**<br>**(18+)): **||0|0|1|1|0|0|
|**Thanksgivings **||0|0|0|0|0|0|
|**Marriages:**||0|0|0|0|0|0|
|**Funeral service**<br>**in church:**||2|1|2|2|0|0|
|**Funeral service**<br>**at**<br>**crematorium:**||3|9|12|6|15|10|
|**Total funerals**||5|10|14|8|15|10|
|**Confirmations:**||0|7|0|0|0|0|



## **THE DEANERY SYNOD OF EDGMOND AND SHIFNAL** 

St John’s and St Michael’s are part of 23 churches in an area to the North and East of Telford through to the area north of Bridgnorth and Northwest of Wolverhampton: encompassing Newport, Shifnal and Albrighton. Our churches send representatives to regular Deanery Synod meetings where issues affecting the church are discussed. Members are elected for a 3-year term. Elections will next be held in 2026. There were three synod meetings in 2025.  Members of Synod also attend the annual Archdeacon’s Visitation for both Telford and Edgmond & Shifnal deaneries. 

The **March** Meeting was held at St. Andrew’s Church, beginning with a HeartSpace Service (a relaxed Vineyard-style gathering focused on growing disciples through Alpha). The present situation regarding Clergy vacancies was discussed and updates were shared about how far Edgmond, Badger, Church Aston and Tong were in the process. The Rural Dean Rev’d Matthew Lefroy thanked the retired clergy for their help during these vacancies, and to the parishes who accepted services at different times. The new Archdeacon is Rev’d Nick Watson. The **July** meeting was at All Saints Church, Forton.  Rev’d Ward spoke of the history of the Church.  Vacancy updates were received and events happening in the Deanery were mentioned with discussions on Safeguarding procedures and keeping churches open during the week, with the Rural Dean, Matthew Lefroy announcing his retirement. 

The **October** Meeting Joint with the East Telford Synod was held at Holy Trinity Church, Wrockwardine Wood Telford for the licensing of Fr. Stuart Howes as the new Rural Dean carried out by Archdeacon Nick. The decision was made to close the Deanery Bank Account sharing the money between Telford 

- 6 - 



Crisis & the Royal British Legion. Sarah Thorpe, Lichfield Diocese Dementia Friendly Church Enabler, circulated “Becoming Dementia Friendly Church” booklet then spoke about being an advisor over the last 10 years and also talking about her own personal experience of Dementia. 

## **FINANCIAL REVIEW 2025** 

At the beginning of 2025 the church finances were in healthy state as a result of a back dated gift aid claim, and increased plate and congregational giving, though this started to decline towards the end of the year. Total income from giving and gift aid was £65,700. Additional income for the church is mostly from hall hire and occasional one-off gifts, as well as interest on the deposit account. During the year, Lunch Club closed their account and the funds of £4,350 were transferred into the PCC account. Our weekend away saw an income of £4,300 (with an expenditure of £5,000 – including monies from the Youth Fund). Overall income for 2025 totalled £118,495 Significant outgoings in 2025 were the common fund £35,262; wages £25,845; maintenance and cleaning £5,231 and utilities £5,550. The emergency exit doors cost £5,316 taken from the designated BM fund. 

Other costs for copyrights, office costs, printing and photocopier rental total over £4,300. Insurance and professional charges total £1,800. 

- Our Mission Giving, being 12% of our congregational giving and reclaimed gift aid was £9,200. 

The remainder of expenditure is on evangelism (inc Mission Week); newspaper, youth, activity days, tea and coffee and a few other things to keep church life ‘ticking over’. Total expenditure for the year was £108,000. 

The deposit account contains £33,700 which is made up £8,000 of restricted youth monies with the balance being reserves for 3 months of operating costs. 

- At the end of 2025 the current account contained £47,665 being £2,154 of restricted monies, £39,827 of unrestricted monies and £5,684 of monies dedicated to ongoing major upkeep and repairs to the building. 

- This ‘pot’ is to be increased to £10,000 at the beginning of 2026 to fund more expensive building requirements. Funds are reasonably healthy, but costs continue to increase and the building is requiring more maintenance. There is never a wrong time to review your own personal giving which is the major source of income for the church. As always THANK YOU to Simon as Treasurer and Gift Aid Secretary and to those who give both financially and of their time to continue God’s work around Muxton, the surrounding area and further afield. 

The **FABRIC & ORNAMENTS** of our church are in good order, and the Church Wardens have very little responsibility for ensuring that this continues, due to the PCC Sub-Committee Building Management Team. A Log Book listing details of work carried out on the building is set up and constantly updated by Building Management.  An Inventory of church items, including the silver and moveable furniture is also noted. Photographs of all items are included and the silver weighed and hallmarks recorded for insurance purposes. These are both diocesan requirements. 

## **The Building Management Team ensures that our church is maintained at the highest level at all times, is a safe, warm and welcoming place for all.** 

During 2025 the following major work was carried out: 

- New emergency exit doors were installed 

- An external Health and Safety Risk Assessment was carried out which brought to light a number of tasks to be addressed which included clearing the floor area in the Boiler and Store rooms; the tv/video unit was discarded and one of the tables removed from the hallway in order to ensure an easier exit route; the kitchen door wedge was removed to ensure the fire door was closed at all times; door mechanisms have been replaced where worn; labelling of fire doors was corrected. 

- The Health & Safety Risk Assessment was updated and ratified by PCC 

In addition to the day-to-day maintenance tasks and upkeep of 

St John’s church, the following has also taken place: 

- A number of the emergency lights were replaced by a member of the BM Team 

- The external windows were painted by a member of the BM Team 

- PAT testing was carried out 

- The outside slabs were re-laid 

- A leak above the lounge area was repaired by a member of the BM Team 

- The fire extinguishers received their annual check as did the emergency lighting 

- A freezer was purchased and installed in the kitchen 

- The carpets have been cleaned 

It should be noted that there are a number of major projects that need to be undertaken as soon as funds allow to include Replace the main hall lighting circa £5-£10,000 Worship area floor circa £10/£15,000 

New Store/Boiler doors, kitchen door and Acorn Room door. Replacing the bathrooms and flooring; Replacing the kitchen and flooring 

The Building Management Team consist of: Lesley Trotman, Steve Hedges, Nigel West, Simon Hartridge and Gill Steinert. Thanks are extended to all, but it should be recorded that Simon, Steve and Lesley continue to carry out the majority of the maintenance tasks themselves saving us thousands of pounds each year. 

CHURCH ADMINISTRATOR AND PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE VICAR Lesley Trotman continues to work as our valued Church Administrator and St John’s Building Manager and we are grateful for all that she does throughout the year. 

Rev’d Ellie Cheetham-Wilkinson                                  12[th] April 2026 On behalf of St John’s PCC 

- 7 - 



## **St John's Church, Muxton Financial Statements for end of month 2025** 

|**RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**<br>**RECEIPTS**<br>**Voluntary Receipts**<br>Receipts from donors<br>Planned giving<br>Plate Collections<br>Income tax recovered<br>Sum Up Donations<br>Other voluntary receipts<br>Grants<br>Sub Total<br>Hire of Hall (inc Tots, Choir and Lunch Club)<br>Receipts from Church Activities (Magazine, Evangelism)<br>Children & Youth<br>Investment Income - CBF Deposit Fund & CAF Bank<br>From St Michaels for Shared Costs (Wages, Office, Copier, Phone etc)<br>Weekend Away 2025<br>Other Income<br>Mission Week<br>Activity Days<br>Fayres<br>Restricted Mission<br>Designated Building<br>Choir (less rent)<br>Leaving gift<br>Lunch Club (net less rent)<br>**Total Receipts**|**Unrestricted**<br>**General**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>47,916.72<br>1,723.79<br>13,229.27<br>2,827.53<br>4,509.30<br>0.00<br>70,206.61<br>19,030.81<br>1,309.58<br>60.00<br>1,594.15<br>9,672.60<br>4,306.16<br>1,449.50<br>531.47<br>352.54<br>634.35<br>3,092.75<br>630.31<br>4,344.07<br>117,214.90|**Designated**<br>**Building**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>0.00<br>0.00<br>0.00|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>180.00<br>180.00<br>0.00<br>600.00<br>500.00<br>1,280.00|**Total**<br>**2,025.00**<br>**£**<br>47,916.72<br>1,723.79<br>13,229.27<br>2,827.53<br>4,509.30<br>180.00<br>0.00<br>70,386.61<br>0.00<br>19,030.81<br>1,309.58<br>60.00<br>1,594.15<br>9,672.60<br>4,306.16<br>1,449.50<br>531.47<br>952.54<br>1,134.35<br>0.00<br>3,092.75<br>630.31<br>4,344.07<br>118,494.90|**Total**<br>**2,024**<br>**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||47,916.72|47,794|
|||||1,723.79|1,244|
|||||13,229.27|17,266|
|||||2,827.53|1,449|
|||||4,509.30|4,320|
|||||180.00|2,555|
|||||0.00|0|
|||||70,386.61|74,628|
|||||0.00||
||19,030.81|||19,030.81|17,151|
||1,309.58|||1,309.58|4,379|
||60.00|||60.00|628|
||1,594.15|||1,594.15|1,737|
||9,672.60|||9,672.60|9,028|
||4,306.16|||4,306.16|40|
||1,449.50|||1,449.50|5,896|
||531.47||0.00|531.47||
||352.54||600.00|952.54|1,267|
||634.35||500.00|1,134.35||
||||||115|
|||0.00||0.00|4,500|
||3,092.75|||3,092.75||
||630.31|||630.31||
||4,344.07|||4,344.07||
|||||||
||117,214.90|0.00|1,280.00|118,494.90|119,369|



## **PAYMENTS** 

|Church Activities<br>Diocesan Common Fund<br>Outward Mission Giving (12% Mission and other charitable giving)<br>Church Activities    Evangelism, Publicity, Tots, Choir, Fayres<br>Youth & Children<br>Pastoral<br>SML Magazine share<br>Resouces, CCLI Licence and misc.<br>AV, Music<br>Activity Days<br>Other Payments - Insurance, bank charges, accountant fees<br>Office costs inc phone<br>Photocopier rental and printing<br>Wages<br>Utilities<br>Maintenance & cleaning|35,262.00<br>9,232.58<br>5,157.83<br>308.81<br>48.77<br>0.00<br>2,480.65<br>108.00<br>1,791.35<br>1,263.94<br>2,206.78<br>25,844.92<br>5,550.17<br>5,230.81|5,316.00|0.00<br>500.00<br>1,731.00<br>185.04<br>424.19|35,262.00<br>9,232.58<br>5,657.83<br>2,039.81<br>48.77<br>0.00<br>2,480.65<br>185.04<br>532.19<br>1,791.35<br>1,263.94<br>2,206.78<br>25,844.92<br>5,550.17<br>10,546.81||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||35,262.00|||35,262.00|34,572|
||9,232.58||0.00|9,232.58|7,698|
||5,157.83||500.00|5,657.83|3,334|
||308.81||1,731.00|2,039.81|947|
||48.77|||48.77|17|
||0.00|||0.00|394|
||2,480.65|||2,480.65|2,300|
||||185.04|185.04|127|
||108.00||424.19|532.19|807|
||1,791.35|||1,791.35|1,742|
||1,263.94|||1,263.94|1,382|
||2,206.78|||2,206.78|2,495|
||25,844.92|||25,844.92|22,783|
||5,550.17|||5,550.17|5,829|
||5,230.81|5,316.00||10,546.81|5,700|





|**RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**<br>Clergy Fees<br>Other<br>Council Grant<br>Leaving gift<br>Lunch Club<br>Weekend Away 2025<br>**Total Payments**<br>Transfer between funds<br>**Excess of Receipts over Payments**|**Unrestricted**<br>**General**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>335.61<br>1,115.09<br>630.31<br>28.20<br>3,282.51<br>99,878.33<br>(5,500.00)<br>11,836.57|**Designated**<br>**Building**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>5,316.00<br>5,500.00<br>184.00|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>2,840.23<br>(1,560.23)|**Total**<br>**2,025.00**<br>**£**<br>335.61<br>1,115.09<br>0.00<br>630.31<br>28.20<br>3,282.51<br>108,034.56<br>0.00<br>10,460.34|**Total**<br>**2,024**<br>**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||1,311|
||||||723|
||||||2,555|
|||||||
|||||||
||||||1,440|
|||||||
||||||96,156|
|||||||
||(5,500.00)|5,500.00||0.00||
|||||||
||11,836.57|184.00|(1,560.23)|10,460.34|23,213|



## **NOTE – On 2.1.25 £5,500 was ‘transferred’ from Unrestricted PCC funds to the Designated Building Fund** 

|Bank current and deposit accounts 1st January 2025|54,780.01||4,500.00||11,714.19||**70,994.20**||42,780|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Bank current and deposit accounts 31stDecember 2025|66,616.58||4,684.00||10,153.96||**81,454.54**||70,994|
|**Change in Reserves**|11,836.57||184.00||(1,560.23)||10,460.34||28,214|
|**STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES**||||||||||
||**Unrestricted**||**Designated**||**Restricted**||**Total**||**Total**|
|**Cash Funds**|**£**||||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|Bank current account|39,826.93||5,684.00||2,153.96||**47,664.89**||**37,205**|
|CBF deposit account|25,789.65||||8,000.00||**33,789.65**||**33,789**|
||65,616.58||5,684.00||10,153.96||**81,454.54**||**70,994**|
|**RESTRICTED FUNDS**|**Starting**||**Income**||**Expenditure**||**Ending**||**Deposit Acc**|
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|||
|Youth Fund (Current acc)|1,829.21||||1,731.00||98.21||8,000|
|Council Grant|0.00||680.00||500.00||180.00|||
|Activity Days|460.40||600.00||424.19||636.21|||
|Music AV|1,424.58||0.00||185.04||1,239.54|||
|TOTAL RESTRICTED FUNDS|3,714.19||1,280.00||2,840.23||2,153.96|||



## **ASSETS** 

Emergency Exit doors 

**Total Total 2025 2024 £ £** 5,316 



## **Independent Examiner’s Report the trustees/members of the PCC of St John’s Church, Muxton** 

I report on the accounts of St John’s Church, Muxton for the year ended 31 December 2025 set out on the attached pages. 

## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 

As members of the PCC, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). 

I report in respect of my examination of the accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. 

## **Independent Examiner’s statement** 

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: 

- Accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or 

- The accounts do not accord with the accounting records; 

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 


L D Clifford FCA, BSC (Hons) 11 Manor Farm Drive Hinstock Market Drayton Shropshire 

9 April 2026